Andretti Autosport Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – A far cry from Wednesday’s Chevrolet domination, Honda found themselves at the top of the speed charts during Thursday practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500 with an unfamiliar face at the top. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’s Jay Howard turned a lap of 226.744 mph, the fastest of the month on his ninth lap of the day around the 2.5 mile oval. However, Thursday was not without its problems. Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden became the first major victim of wallRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana- Jack Harvey’s first go in the Verizon IndyCar Series has gone about like his journey to get there. Tough.  The two-time runner up of the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires in 2014 and 2015, Harvey’s $75,000 check he received at the Mazda Road to Indy banquet in September 2015 was nowhere near enough to secure him an IndyCar ride. How was the journey from September 2015 to this year, finally getting a ride in the Indianapolis 500? “Terrible. It’s anRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The opening day of practice for the 2017 Indianapolis 500 officially began after a two hour rookie orientation/veteran refresher period and Marco Andretti led the speed chart with a lap of 226.338 mph. Scott Dixon was second with a lap of 225.296 mph. Both are driving Honda-powered cars. The first Chevrolet was Ed Carpenter at 224.969 mph. However, before the session for all drivers, some rookie orientations had to be completed, and one was. In order to be declared ready for competitionRead More

By Nico Jamin, Driver Columnist Providing an inside look for the fans, Nico Jamin will be contributing to Motorsports Tribune selectively throughout the 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season. For his opening column, the 21-year-old Frenchman goes into his maiden series win with Andretti Autosport, taking to sports cars and readying for a busy month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Being a rookie and getting my first Indy Lights win in Race 1 at Barber Motorsports Park was amazing and following it up with a podium the nextRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief In less than 24 hours, two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso will officially begin his journey towards the 101 Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on May 28. The 35-year-old Spaniard is set for his first test on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. ET on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, and will run until 5 p.m. ET. With an abysmal this year in F1, Alonso, McLaren boss Zak Brown and Honda came together with Andretti Autosport for a unique situation in which the 32-timeRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama- Starting 18th in a field of 21 cars on a track where passing is difficult doesn’t lend itself to a great day in the Verizon IndyCar Series. For Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, the No. 98 Honda found its way to finishing in fifth place at Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama thanks to some clever pit work. Under the first major green flag run of the race, Rossi made his first pit stop on Lap 14 from 19th position,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Colton Herta captured his second Indy Lights win of the season and with it, the milestone 400th race dating back to 1986, on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park. After a start which saw an opening lap collision between Pato O’Ward and Zachary Claman De Melo that led to both drivers retiring from the race, Herta caught Kaiser napping on the restart and drove away to extend his points lead. Behind Herta and Kaiser, Belardi Auto Racing driver Santiago Urrutia saw his badRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – In the spirit of racing crossover, Marco Andretti has teased the concept of running the Daytona 500. The 30-year-old Nazareth, Pennsylvania native will have two-time Formula 1 champion, Fernando Alonso as a teammate at Andretti Autosport in this year’s 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500. The 35-year-old Spaniard shook the racing world when it was announced that he would skip the Monaco Grand Prix, F1’s crown jewel event, to compete in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” next month. In 2014, former NASCAR CupRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso will race in the 2017 Indianapolis 500, driving a McLaren-branded Honda-powered entry run by defending champions Andretti Autosport. The 35-year-old Spaniard cited multiple reasons for wanting to race at Indianapolis in a statement issued by McLaren-Honda this morning. Among them, his desire to emulate the late Graham Hill and become just the second driver to complete the Triple Crown of Motor racing. “I’ve won the Monaco Grand Prix twice, and it’s one of my ambitions to win theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer James Hinchcliffe scored his first Verizon IndyCar Series victory in nearly two years at Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach after holding on after two late restarts and speeding away from Sebastien Bourdais. The Canadian was able to parlay a two stop strategy to the lead after staying out a lap later than Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was leading at the time he made his final pit stop. The No. 5 ARROW Electronics Honda led the final 27 laps to give SchmidtRead More